Neon Genesis Evangelion: Searching for Eden
by Tsu-sama
Summary: It is the year 2015, all the angels but two have arrived but a plot exists. Rewrite of episodes 24 to 26. Chapter 3 up. Tsubasa pilots Eva 006 for the first time, Asuka tells Shinji about her pervious months and a familiar looking angel attacks.
1. Phase 1

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Phase One

"My name is Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa." said the boy. As his gray hair flapped in the wind his blood red eyes gazed at the moon above him and a small smile curled up upon his lips, "And you are Shinji Ikari, are you not?"

A brown haired boy was starring at Kaworu before realizing his rudeness and slowly speaking, "How do you know my name?" But he said the question emotionlessly for his dark blue eyes were fixated on Kaworu, although they had never meant, Shinji couldn't help but feel that they had.

"You aren't aware of your own status are you?" asked Kaworu and an almost loving tone of voice, "Third Child?"

Shinji nodded, "Yes… I am the Third Child… Not that I want to be?"

"Hm? Ikari, is there something you aren't telling anyone? Something you want to hide?" asked Kaworu as he slowly stood up from his location lying on the beach to look Shinji in the eye.

"Please… Just call me Shinji, Nagisa." He was trying the avoid answering the question.

"Then please, you call me Kaworu." A grand smile spread across Kaworu's face.

The nauseas fumes of NERV headquarters entered Shinji's nose as he stepped inward for his synchronization test. But he saw that the familiar face of Kaworu stood there as well, "Kaworu… You are an Eva pilot?"

"Yes… I am the most… qualified person to pilot an Eva."

"Oh…" Shinji has already become friends with Kaworu in the short time they knew each other and Shinji did not want his new friend to be tortured by the Eva as he was, "You know… if you don't want to pilot the Eva… you can always run away…"

"I know… But if I run away… Then I won't be near you." Kaworu was looking Shinji deep in the eye, "You are afraid of something aren't you?"

"What..? No…"

"You are afraid of love aren't you?"

Shinji turned away for a moment as his right hand twitched a bit before he placed his left hand on his wrist to stop it, "No… That isn't true?" What, why was he asking it? Could he really not know himself?

"You are afraid of rejection are you not?" Kaworu smiled at Shinji a big and grand smile, "Well, I won't reject you."

Shinji gasped for a moment, "What are you saying?"

Kaworu smiled and fell onto Shinji, slowly whispering in his ear, "I am saying… I love you…"

Shinji turned red with Kaworu on top of him, "What… love?"

"Are you afraid?" Kaworu whispered in Shinji's ear, "Or will love come to you?"

Shinji tried to stand up, "I need to go to my synchronization test, see you later Kaworu!" He yelled as he ran off into the dark hallway before him.

"Could you really be in love with a lilium, Tarbiss?" A voice in Kaworu's head asked him.

"Love is love. It takes many forms." Kaworu replied, as he looked upwards towards the ceiling.

"This won't stop your mission will it?" asked the voice.

"No… Of course not sir…" Kaworu waited a moment and then under his breath muttered, "You call yourself a bringer of light, sir. But if you cannot even comprehend such a simple feeling as love, then it is you who is as foolish as the lilium."

"0.5, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, 0.0! Synchronization failed, Evangelion 001 has rejected the pilot." yelled someone from the NERV control room. Shinji heard these words inside of the Eva simulator. He was disappointed in himself; he failed to synchronize with the Eva… his Eva… his mother…

"Shinji, you are a useless child." Gendou, Shinji's father, told him through a microphone, "Pack up your possessions and leave."

"What?" asked the purple haired beauty, Misato, "Who will pilot Eva 001? Kaworu can't and Rei is…"

"Don't you ever talk about Rei like that!" Yelled Gendou but suddenly he calmed down, "That boy is useless, and therefore, we shall use the dummy plug."

"Commander-" muttered Misato before she was interrupted abruptly.

"And you are also forbidden from interaction with that boy Misato. It would be best for him if he forgets everything about NERV."

"How can you treat your own son like that?" Screamed Misato practically ready to pounce on Gendou, "You bastard!"

"I have no son…" said Gendou coolly as he left the NERV control room.

However Shinji has heard all of this and suddenly turned his head down as a tear rolled down his face, "Father…"

"My… my…" Spoke the blonde haired scientist, Ritsuko, "Factions have already devolved in NERV?"

Meanwhile, in an empty part of Tokyo-3, a certain red haired girl was sitting in a bathtub with a knife in her left hand which was leaning over the side of the tub, "I am worthless…" She tells herself, "I deserve to die… All I could do was pilot the Eva… and now the Eva is gone… I am worthless…" She picked up the knife but it slipped out of her hand and slashed her leg. She let out a yelp as the bath's water turned a pale red. She suddenly feels warmth in the water.

"This… blood… Is this… the same… as…? LCT fluid…?" She coughed up blood into her hand as her eyesight became blurry, the red water still crawling up her body. The water as red as an angel's blood.

"It is finally time." A nameless voice said, "The time as come for the end of days… Tarbiss do not let your master down."

"That's weird…" coughed Asuka, "I swear I heard… mother's voice…" And with that and a gust of wind, she fainted.


	2. Phase 2

Months have passed since the attack of 16th angel. Many assume that it was the last angel and now all is well. Schools have started up again, and people are assuming that the once inevitable apocalypse was at bay. There were those who knew better, but who were they to disturb the joyous festivals and parties of the "man's redemption."

In the case of Misato Katsurugi, she did not celebrate. She was ban from ever seeing the person who was like a son to her. She had lost the life of the one most dear to her and her once friend Ritsuko had gone nearly insane… Nothing was peaceful… no… everything was hellish for her… While the Tokyo-3 citizens paraded by the thousands, she just sat in her apartment watching them go by. Her purple hair now rarely saw sunlight as her beautiful slim figure was beginning to grow outward. She, for the first time in her life, felt that she could not be helped… that she was dying.

"Wow! This is Tokyo-3! I've always wanted to come here. Ever since I was a kid…" An airplane flew over Tokyo-3 preparing to land, and on that plane was a child, but not just any child. His name was Tsubasa, "Wow… Now I will get to meet the Third Child and the others… If I am good enough to be a pilot that is… They'll probably send me home because I am not good enough…"

Tsubasa stepped of the plane and into the open air where his short brown hair flew back and forth in the wind. His blue eyes seemed to glow with the radiance of the sun itself. But to Tsubasa's surprise, there was a purple haired woman waiting for him at the entrance to the airport, "Are you Tsubasa Yamada?" she asked in a low manner.

"Yes ma'am." Replied Tsubasa as he looked downward, "You must be Commander Katsurugi! I am honored to meet you." Tsubasa bowed.

"So polite," joked Misato before she frowned, "It is a new NERV policy that no one is allowed to play guardian to pilots. So NERV as dorm-like-apartments for all its pilots." She said in a low voice as Tsubasa tailed her behind walking to her car.

"I understand ma-"

"Please, just Misato. Just Misato." Said Misato with a big smile trying to be friendly despite her enormous pain, "I'll take you to your room, Last Child."

Tsubasa didn't reply but slowly got into Misato's car. There was a long silence as Misato began to drive before Misato finally was the one to break the ice, "So… where are you from?"

"Hmm? America…" Tsubasa muttered, "New York to be precise."

"Do you enjoy Japanese life?" Asked Misato now becoming a little curious about this boy himself.

"Yes ma-"

"What did I say about calling me ma'am?"

"Yes Misato," he corrected himself, "Yes, I do very enjoy Japanese life. I love Japanese foods, customs and all… I have been trying to get used to what it might be like here ever since I found out I would be the… Last… Child…"

Misato did the best she could to appear friendly, "Well, do you know why you are referred to as the Last Child?"

"Yes ma'am, it is because I am well… The last child who not only can pilot an Eva but can synchronize…" Tsubasa said slowly in a low tone. When she hit a traffic light, Misato took a look at Tsubasa. He was 14, like his resume said, and he certainly had the height to match but his face was a little pudgy like that of a ten year old.

"I know what you are thinking…" Tsubasa told Misato, "Why could a 14 year old look so young? Well… it's just a curse…" He joked to lighten the mood sensing Misato's distress.

"Oh yes!" The purple haired woman exclaimed as she remembered something that she had forgotten, "I need you to tell me, are you on any medication for any disease or state of mind?"

"Yes ma'am…" Tsubasa paused for a moment but then spoke when Misato put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him it was okay, "I am on anti-depressants…"

Misato nodded and began to drive again feeling a disturbance in Tsubasa's voice. There was no talking for the rest of the car ride.

It indeed was not long before Tsubasa slowly opened the door to his dorm in the NERV pilot center, "Oh!" remembered Misato, who to Tsubasa seemed forgetful, "You have a roommate, and his name is Kaworu Nagisa, the 5th Child."

"How many pilots are there?" Tsubasa asked curiously.

"Well… there are… four…" She paused for a moment, "No… three… pilots, you, Kaworu and a girl. But the girl is currently hospitalized for a condition… If she returns, she will be in the room next to you." Misato obviously seemed distressed about something for she turned away immediately and began to walk back towards her car. Before a word came from Tsubasa's mouth, she was driving away.

But Tsubasa sighed it off and entered his room, "Hello? Kaworu?"

"Yes?" A voice replied to Tsubasa's call, "I am Kaworu Nagisa… Who are you?"

"I am… Tsubasa Yamada… I will be sharing rooms with you." Tsubasa said trying to be friendly but it was event to Kaworu that something was bothering him.

"You remind me of someone I know… Someone who is here to, who you should meet." Kaworu told Tsubasa as he led him through a small doorway into a bedroom with two beds and a sleeping bag on the floor. Lying in the sleeping bag was a brown haired boy with his eyes shut and a headset in his ears.

"Ah! I forgot! It's midnight here… where I live it's only noon."

"Do not worry." Said Kaworu, "Neither of us really often sleeps." He nudged Shinji on the shoulder gently, "Shinji…"

"Yes… Kaworu…" Asked the brown haired boy named Shinji as he sat up slowly. He opened his blue eyes and stared at Tsubasa.

"Hello… Third Child… no?" asked Tsubasa curiously, "Shinji Ikari?"

Shinji nodded with a small grunting noise of acknowledgement. Shinji and Tsubasa stared at each other for a moment, it was almost like a little kid starring into a mirror for the first time and being curious how there could be someone who looks just like them.

Kaworu smiled, "Two lilium, so similar… And yet I only love one… The other is meaningless to me… Is that normal…?" He asked himself under his breath.

"Did you say something Kaworu?" Asked Shinji as he regained his speech.

"Oh… no… I was just… thinking out loud." Kaworu couldn't make something up; he couldn't lie to the one he loved. How could this be? He couldn't lie so he just told part of the truth… Could it really be that he truly loved a lilium? Kaworu was flushed for a moment and then calmed himself down by thinking, 'No, this is just a coincidence… It's just really hot in here…'

"Shinji… I heard that your father is the leader of NERV… Is this true?" Asked Tsubasa out in a curious state of mind.

"Yes but… I don't like him…" Shinji frowned, "Well… no… he doesn't like me… How about you?" He rather not admit the truth about his feelings towards his father.

"Oh… My father… he is very kind to me…" Said Tsubasa looking away for a moment, "How about you Kaworu…?" Trying to shift away the subject from himself.

"Well… I joined NERV to find him…" Said Kaworu with a smile, "I don't know much about him but his name is… Adam…"

"That sounds familiar…" Shinji commented with a confused look on his face, "Well I suppose it would… Adam is a common name outside of Japan…"

"Well… I think I am going to go to sleep." yawned Tsubasa as he lay down on the floor, "Goodnight." Time and time passed 'till the morning where the three were all hectically getting ready for school. Since the school was starting up again, the three of them had to go and be students. Although Shinji and Tsubasa muttered a few complaints under their breath, Kaworu seemed eager and happy to go to school as he would be caught constantly saying, "School is a beautiful thing is it not?" or, "Is this how you learn?"

"Good morning class!"

"Good morning Ms. Osaka."

Ms. Osaka, the blonde haired slim bodied beauty, spoke, "Today, we have five new students!" She exclaimed, "The first one came all the way from America. His name is Tsubasa Yamada." Tsubasa felt awkward as he walked through the door, the teacher was making this a game show. But he just sighed and walked towards one of the empty seats in the back of the room.

"Next of, we have Shinji Ikari! He was the Third Child and is an eligible bachelor for all you ladies!" Shinji walked through the door, stared at Ms. Osaka for a moment, then the class. Then went over to another empty seat and sat down.

"Okay everyone, next we have a very handsome boy, his name is Kaworu Nagisa!" Kaworu walked in and then smiled for the class looked for the closest seat next to Shinji and sat down there.

"This is weird…" Shinji whispered to Kaworu, "We have one crazy teacher."

"So this is not how you normally introduce yourse-"

But he was cut off by Ms. Osaka's rambling, "Next off we have a student who was hospitalized for a while do to injury. I want everyone to meet Toji Suzahara!" Shinji immediately gasped as he saw the figure of his close friend walk through the door to the classroom seemingly unharmed, Toji was muttering something along the lines of, "This is stupid!" Toji spotted Shinji and ran over to the closest seat that Kaworu did not take and gave Shinji a signal that was along the lines of, "Meet me after class."

"Finally, the last person is… Asuka Langley Shouryu." Shinji paused; did he just hear that name correctly? His heart was beating quickly, his mind flashing. The red haired girl slowly walked into the room as her eyes scanned the class like she was looking for someone, her eyes settled on Shinji and she took a seat as close to him as she could get. But she wasn't smiling like she used to. She was frowning with a serious look in her eye. To Shinji, she seemed much more mature than before but he couldn't help but worry. Wasn't it her that had faced the mental score not long ago?

"Shinji…" She said loud enough so that only he could here, "I want to talk to you… later today…" She turned back towards Ms. Osaka who was saying something about fractions and radicals. Shinji really didn't care, but his best friend and Asuka were okay and that meant a lot to him.

As the long day passed, class was let out and Shinji sighed a sigh of relief as he left the room only to see the big brutish figure of Toji before him, "Ikari!" he yelled frightening Shinji, "Nice to see you!"

Once realizing it was joke, Shinji smiled, "I am glad you are okay, Toji."

"Shinji…" A voice said, Shinji turned around to see Asuka there with a look of sadness on her face, "May I talk to you?"

Once they were in an area where they could talk alone, Asuka spoke, "Stupid Shinji! But on a serious note… Shinji… I know that sometimes I might've been cruel to you…" Shinji gasped was this the same Asuka speaking, "And I apologize for it…"

"Asuka… You have nothing to be sorry for… if anyone… I should be sorry…" Shinji muttered looking down but then Asuka laughed.

"You are the same old stupid Shinji!" She exclaimed, "You have nothing to be sorry about! Stop apologizing!"

"Oh… Sorry…" Shinji frowned looking down.

"What are you stupid?" Asked Asuka jokingly, "But really… Shinji… I want to tell you that… When we kissed…. I really… enjoy it…"

A slight gasp let out of Shinji's mouth, "Asuka… I…"

"Stop being so embarrassed! It's me!" She exclaimed.

"Asuka… May I hold you?" Shinji asked as his face turned a little red.

"I haven't wanted anything else," Asuka smiled a little and embraced Shinji around the neck as he did so to her waist. Asuka smiled and put her head down on Shinji's shoulder, "Shinji… After all that had happened to me recently… I realized that all I wanted… was to be with you…"

Shinji nodded and smiled, a rare event for Shinji, "Asuka… I… I… I…"

"Spit it out, idiot!" She joked again.

"I love you."

"I love you to. My dearest Third Child…"

However, in the corner of the room, a figure looked in shock at the two embracing, "Shinji… Could you be rejecting my love?" It was Kaworu and in a state of shock and anger, two emotions that he had never felt before, Kaworu began to feel a salty water roll down his face, "Is this what the lilium call… tears?"

"Asuka and Shinji are acting unusual today…" muttered Toji from the corner of his mouth as he peered through into the room that Asuka and Shinji were embracing inside of.

Tsubasa, who was next to Toji, chuckled, "They are just glad to see the other alive… And in doing so… can finally express themselves to one another. Not necessarily to say that they love each other or don't. But what they are feeling isn't love, but contentment at knowing the other is alive," Tsubasa now turned towards Toji, "Toji… if you don't mind me asking… I thought you well… got 'hurt' in an accident with the Eva…"

"Yes… I did." Frowned Toji, "But I met a man named Keel Lorenz, he built me a fake arm and leg that work just as well… He also promised my sister an even better health plan than NERV's." Toji tried to smile but failed.

"No conditions?"

"No… No conditions…"

Later that day, Tsubasa prepared for his first synchronization test. His black and white plug suit reflected the light as he walked towards the pod muttering, "I am going to fail…" over and over again. As the pod door opened and he sat down in the seat preparing for the test he heard a voice:

"Preparing to synchronize with Unit-006. In five, four, three two, one!"

Suddenly Tsubasa felt a rush of energy in his body as he closed his eyes and began to prepare to attempt synchronization.

"Pilot metal stability is stable!" Yelled a voice from the control room.

"Synchronization points are going up and quick. 36.7, 37, 37.4. This is incredible." Yelled another voice.

However, inside the pod, a tear rolled down Tsubasa's face as he was almost ready to scream. For some reason, the Eva was bringing back his worst memories, making him relive them over and over. Finally he let the scream go and the warning signal appeared on the computer.

"Warning! Pilot's mental stability is failing quickly!"

"Synchronization rating is going down! 15.3, 12.6, 6.8!"

"Eject the pod!"

Tsubasa came flying out of the pod and landed on the ground as tears were flowing from his eyes, "I'm weak…" He commented, "I'm worthless and weak!" He wiped away his tears and looked upwards towards the control room.

"I've seen enough," said none other than Gendou Ikari, "this boy has proved that he can synchronize with the Eva. He just needs training before a true fight."

Tsubasa nodded and slowly left to get changed and head to the NERV Pilot Center. But when he was in the locker room, he banged his head on the locker and resumed his tears once more.


	3. Phase 3

The blazing red haired girl and the chocolate brown haired boy walked down the street and by hand. The girl had her head leaned on the boy's shoulder and she had a smile on her face, "Shinji… when I called you an idiot… I never really meant it… I was just unhappy with how you were acting then and that is the only way I could reply." She snuggled his arm, "Please, never think I actually thought any of those things of you."

"Asuka…" Shinji smiled, "I am so glad to know you are okay…" A trickle of snow began to fall down from the sky, "Snow…" Shinji looked at Asuka for a second and began to worry. He knew he had feelings for her… even if he didn't always make it so obvious… But… was she telling the truth when she was telling him these things? Could it truly be love?

"Hey Shinji…" Asuka held Shinji's arm tightly as a frown caught her face, "I want to tell you something…"

Shinji nodded and gulped excepting the worst, "Okay… Asuka."

"Shinji…" She turned away for a moment but her grasp on Shinji's arm grew tighter, "The reason I am acting different now then I did… before… is because… I did a lot of thinking ever since that day when I… vanished… I… tried to kill myself…" There was a pause as Shinji looked at Asuka with a horror in his eyes. Once seeing this Asuka continued, "But I survived and well… It made me want to change… Because… I suddenly understood how dear things like you and Misato are to me."

Shinji nodded still astounded but noticed that without command, his hand was comforting her, "Asuka… I don't know what to say-"

"Hey stupid!" She exclaimed, "That's the past, what matters now is that we are together!" She hugged Shinji and the two stopped walking for a moment to embrace passionately for the second time.

"Hey…" Muttered Kaworu who was right behind them in a groggy voice, "We have a place to get to."

Tsubasa sighed as he tagged along behind the three, "What a love triangle. Just, they don't realize it yet…"

"How is the plan coming along" Gendou was in a pitch black room with 12 large obelisks standing upright, these obelisks were known as Seele, "We delivered the host of Adam to you from America with the pilot. Ikari, do not fail us." Said the one known as Seele 01.

Gendou nodded, "Of course. Although, why did you have Adam sent to Japan first before sending it to America?" Gendou asked, "It created further risk to losing Adam to an angel did it not?"

"Yes," Said the obelisk known as Seele 03, "But it was our only choice. Angels aren't the only ones who want their filthy hands on Adam."

"True. So what shall we do with Unit 006?" Gendou looked upwards towards the monstrous stones of light, "If what you say is true, then if Unit 006 contacts with an angel, it will trigger Third Impact."

"This is why we have coated it with armor like the other Evangelions. Not only is it a good disguise, but it offers an interesting protection against the other angels." Seele 12 answered, "But Ikari, remember that Unit 001 and Unit 006 are equally important to our ideals. Don't screw it up!"

"Very well." Gendou answered as he crossed his hands, "But… The pilot of Unit 001 has been removed."

"Your own son, Ikari?" Asked Seele 01, "Now that was rather soulless."

"Regardless of whether or not he is my son," Gendou answered keeping his calm, "He is useless if he can't pilot the Eva."

"Return the Third Child to his role of piloting Unit 001." Demanded Seele 09, "This conversation is over." And as the monoliths faded away, Gendou smiled as he stood up and left the room.

"An angel is attacking! An angel is attacking!" The voice rang over the NERV headquarters like a siren, "Pilots of Evangelions 001, 002, 005 and 006 get ready for launch!"

Shinji was inside the cockpit of Unit 001, amazed that he was still there. Even though he was not happy that he was still piloting Eva, it gave him a little contentment knowing his father was proud enough of him to let him pilot. But wasn't it just a few months ago he was told not to pilot the Eva ever again?

"How does it feel, you four?" Asked Misato from the control room.

"Comforting…" Muttered Shinji.

"Same as always!" Reported Asuka.

"It's different than the sync tests…" Tsubasa told Misato.

"It feels like home…" Kaworu said from Eva 005.

Kaworu's Unit 005 looked unusual, in fact monstrous. It had a long fanged jaw, pale white skin and demonic eyes. It had long wings and looked like a creature from a horror movie. However, to contrast, Eva 006 looked the most robotic of all the Evas. It had black and white metal plates as well as the fact that the entire shape was made of polygons and no circles or spheres. Eva 006 almost looked to fake to be an Eva, too surreal.

"Launch!" And in a moment all four Evangelions blasted into the sky and after a long time of being shot upwards, finally landed on the ground, side by side, "Shinji! Take out your rifle and cover Asuka! Asuka! Take out your progressive knife and aim towards the angel's head!" Misato paused for a moment, "Kaworu! Cover Shinji and make sure he doesn't get hit! Tsubasa?"

"Yes ma'am?"

Misato was about to correct him but then remembered the dire situation, "Use your Progressive Blade and strike in unison with Asuka to destroy the angel."

"Yes ma'am!" And with that, the angel appeared in the sky over the horizon. The angel looked oddly familiar to Shinji and Asuka. It was blue and white and rather humanoid. It had glaring eyes the seemed reminiscent of the Eva's.

Suddenly a scream was heard and Eva 006 was on its knees letting out a roar. Part of the Eva's armor fell off revealing a shining light from underneath. The light grew into a tentacle that emerged from the hole in the armor. The tentacle reached forward and grabbed the angel, in a moment, ripping it limb from limb. The bloody remains of the angel were through about Tokyo-3 in a grotesque fashion. This "tentacle of light" stopped and retracted back into Unit 006's body. With a scream from Tsubasa in agony, the Eva fell silent. A blood-like substance covered all the building and walls in Tokyo three as the three working Evas began their descent into NERV headquarters.

"What… just… happened?" Misato asked herself, "They just destroyed the Eva without even a moment of work."

"According to the Magi, there were two angels there." Ritsuko told Misato speaking of the giant "Magi" supercomputers, "Adam and Lilith." There was a cease in all talking for a moment until Maya, one of the people working under NERV, spoke up:

"Sempai… How could Adam and Lilith be there? Isn't Adam in Central Dogma?"

"I thought so… Unless…"

"Sempai?"

"No… It's nothing, continue the work." Ritsuko told the staff as she turned away, "So Gendou… I thought Rei was your pride and joy…" She muttered. And in a moment's breath turned to the screen of her computer and started typing.


End file.
